Professional Certificate in Education (Positive Behaviour and Learning)

The Professional Certificate in Education (Positive Behaviour and Learning) meets the professional learning needs of teachers working with students with challenging behaviours.

The Semester One subject, EDUC90287 Promoting Positive Learning, explores strategies for promoting positive learning for students, particularly those with disabilities, enrolled in early intervention and school settings. Whole school curriculum approaches are examined, alongside targeted interventions for students requiring intensive support for their learning.

The Semester Two subject, EDUC90290 Promoting Positive Behaviour, considers how teachers can better understand student behaviour and its impact on learning. Central to this course are research-based educational approaches for understanding the function of challenging behaviour, promoting positive behaviour, and implications for classroom practice.

The course provides students with the skills and knowledge to:

• Review and contrast major theoretical perspectives on curriculum approaches for students with diverse learning needs;
• Critically analyse the concept of ‘challenging behaviour’;
• Review and contrast major theoretical perspectives on behaviour; and
• Consider communicative functions of behaviour.

In addition the course provides students with practical opportunities to:

• Investigate functional relationships between environment, learning and behaviour;
• Examine approaches and techniques for promoting positive learning and behaviour; and
• Reflect critically on classroom implications for promoting positive learning and behaviour in professional practice.

Students complete two 12.5 point subjects, EDUC90287 Promoting Positive Learning and EDUC90290 Promoting Positive Behaviour.

Materials for each subject will be available online, and generally there would be no required face-to-face learning. Students would access the LMS for all materials, and complete a series of modules at their own pace (subject to University deadlines). Where learning is supplemented with face-to-face tutorials, non-attendance at these would not disadvantage students in rural locations.

Compulsory subjects

To enter the Professional Certificate in Education (Positive Behaviour and Learning) students would be required to hold:

• an approved degree and an approved teaching qualification or equivalent; or
• an approved four-year teaching degree or equivalent; or
• an approved equivalent qualification which is recognised by MGSE as adequate preparation for the course and a record of professional or teaching experience in a field at a level acceptable to MGSE.

The Melbourne Graduate School of Education welcomes applications from students with disabilities. It is University and Graduate School policy to take reasonable steps to enable the participation of students with disabilities, and reasonable adjustments will be made to enhance a student’s participation in the Graduate School’s programs.
The core participation requirements for study in the Melbourne Graduate School of Education are:

In all courses

1. The ability to comprehend complex information related to education and the disciplines in which the student is teaching.
2. The ability to communicate clearly and independently in assessment tasks a knowledge of the content, principles and practices relating to education and other relevant disciplines.
3. Behavioural and social attributes that enable a student to participate in a complex learning environment. Students are required to take responsibility for their own participation and learning. They also contribute to the learning of other students in collaborative learning environments, demonstrating interpersonal skills and an understanding of the needs of other students. Assessment may include the outcomes of tasks completed in collaboration with other students.

Students who feel a disability will prevent them from meeting the above academic requirements are encouraged to contact Disability Liaison.

The University’s general graduate attributes are located on the Office of the Provost’s website: http://www.unimelb.edu.au/about/attributes.html

On completion of this course students should be able to:

• Generate questions based on experience, expertise and literature;
• Synthesise, analyse and apply information to fill self-identified gaps and extend knowledge; and
• Use the language of the discipline to extend knowledge and understanding from diverse perspectives for a range of audiences.